The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research

by Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber

Overview

Emergent technologies are pushing the boundaries of how both qualitative and quantitative researchers practice their craft, and it has become clear these changes are dramatically altering research design, from the questions researchers ask and the ways they collect data, to what they even consider data.

Gathering a broad range of new developments in one place, The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research offers comprehensive, up-to-date thinking on technological innovations. In addition to addressing how to effectively apply new technologies-such as the internet, mobile technologies, geospatial technologies (GPS), and the incorporation of computer-assisted software programs (CAQDAS) to qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches to research projects-many chapters provide in-depth examples of practices within both disciplinary and interdisciplinary environments and outside the academic world in multi-media laboratories and research institutes. Not only an authoritative view of cutting-edge technologies and their applications, the Handbook examines the costs and benefits of utilizing new technologies on the research process, the potential misuse of these techniques for methods practices, and the ethical and moral dimensions of emergent technologies, especially with regard to issues of surveillance and privacy.

The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research is an essential resource for research methods courses in various fields, including the social sciences, education, communications, computer science, and health services, and an indispensable guide for social researchers looking to incorporate emerging technologies into their methods and practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195373592
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	03/03/2011
Pages:	720
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.80(h) x 2.40(d)

About the Author

Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. She is the author or editor of numerous books, including The Cult of Thinness, Working Women in America: Split Dreams, Feminist Perspectives in Social Research, Approaches to Qualitative Research, and Feminist Approaches to Theory and Methodology. She is co-developer of HyperRESEARCH, a software tool for analyzing qualitative data, and a transcription software tool, HyperTranscribe (www.researchware.com).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Emergent Technologies in Social Research: Pushing against the Boundaries of Research Praxis,
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber
Part One: Emergent Technologies in a Broad Social Research Context
1. Possible Dreams: Research Technologies and Transformation of the Human Sciences, Edward J. Hackett
2. To Tell the Truth: The Internet and Emergent Epistemological Challenges in Social Research, David J. Gunkel
3. Methodological Challenges Posed by Emergent Nanotechnologies and Cultural Values, Barbara Herr Harthorn
4. Under my Skin: The Ethics of Ambient Computing for Personal Health Monitoring, Göran Collste
5. Ubiquitous Connectivity: User-Generated Data and the Role of the Researcher, Mariann Hardey
Part Two: The Rise of Internet Technologies and Social Research Practice
6. Clickable Data: Hypermedia and Social Research, Bella Dicks and Bruce Mason
7. Digital Ethnography and Emergent Technologies, Dhiraj Murthy
8. New Fieldsites, New Methods: New Ethnographic Opportunities, Laura Robinson and Jeremy Schulz
9. Online Focus Groups, David L. Morgan and Bojana Lobe
10. Digital Repositories, Folksonomies and Interdisciplinary Research: New Social Epistemology Tools, Karim Gherab-Martin
Part Three: Emergent Data Collection Methods: New Forms of Data Production
11. Studying Mailing Lists: Text, Temporality, Interaction and Materiality at the Intersection of Email and the Web, Anne Beaulieu and Mette Terp Høybye
12. On-line Data Collection and Data Analysis using Emergent Technologies, Michael Dal
13. Collaborative Research Tools: Using Wikis and Team Learning Systems to Collectively Create New Knowledge, Robert Fitzgerald and John Findlay
14. Using Emerging Technologies in Focus Group Interviews, Kathryn Moyle
15. Toward Experimental Methods in Collaborative Computing Research, Gregorio Convertino and John M. Carroll
16. Emergent Technologies for Assessing Social Feelings and Experiences, Albertine Visser and Ingrid Mulder
17. Data Mining and Research: Applied Mathematics Reborn, Bert Little
18. Knowledge Mining and Managing: Emergent Tools and Technologies in Web-Based Intelligent Learning Environments, Nittaya Kerdprasop
Part Four: Audio-Visual, Mobile, and Geospatial Technologies' Impact on the Social Research Process
19. The Use of Audio-Visuals in Surveys, Tom W. Smith and John Sokolowski
20. The Use of Mixed Methods Thinking in Documentary Development, John W. Creswell and Bernard Rogers McCoy
21. A New Way of Seeing and Being Seen: Digital Storytelling as an Emergent Method for Social Research and Practice, Aline Gubrium and K-C Nat Turner
22. Mobile Phones as Sensors for Social Research, Nathan Eagle
23. Fragments of Freedom: Making Sense of Implicit Data Sets, Geert de Haan, Sunil Choenni, Ingrid Mulder, Sandra Kalidien, and Peter van Waart
24. Using Technology and the Experience Sampling Method to Understand Real Life, Anne Kellock, Rebecca Lawthom, Judith Sixsmith, Karen Duggan, Ilana Mountian, John T. Haworth, Carolyn Kagan, David P. Brown, John E. Griffiths, Jenny Hawkins, Claire Worley, Christina Purcell, and Asiya Siddiquee
25. The Application of Spatial Analysis Technology in Social Science Research: Tools and Techniques, Steven J. Steinberg and Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg
26. Methods, Examples and Pitfalls in the Exploitation of the Geospatial Web, Ross S. Purves
Part Five: The Impact of New Technologies for Studying Social Life in Naturalistic Settings
27. Living Laboratories: Social Research Applications and Evaluation, Chris Fowler, Lindsay O'Neill, and Joy van Helvert
28. The Digital Home: A New Locus of Social Science Research, Anne Holohan, Jeanette Chin, Vic Callaghan, and Peter Muhlau

Editorial Reviews

"This is a path-breaking examination of the emerging social media technologies and their impact on critical qualitative methodologies. Sharlene Hesse-Biber presents a comprehensive framework for interpreting and using these new discourses. The chapters are clearly written, and very accessible to students. This book lays the foundation for the generation of scholars who want to take these emergent technologies to the next level."—Norman K. Denzin, College of Communications Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

From the Publisher